“I am favorite,” says Bakary Samaké on the eve of his fight against Ahmed El Mousaoui.
Total self-confidence for the man who won the IBF Youth World Championship at the age of 17.
Coming from a boxing family with a father who was a junior and junior French champion and a great-uncle who was an African champion, Samaké quickly climbed the ranks of the super-welterweight category (less than 70 kg).
At 20, the French boxing prodigy already has a well-stocked trophy cabinet.
And unlimited ambitions.
Champion of Luxembourg in 2021, world champion under 25 in 2023, 14 victories and 0 defeats as a professional… The kid from 9-3 does not want to stop there.
And he already dreams of being the heir of Floyd Mayweather, his idol.
“The final goal is to be world champion,” says this muscular young man, 1.81 m tall and weighing 69 kg.
To do this, he surrounded himself with the best and relied on the advice of his father.
“With my father and my physical trainer, we form an explosive cocktail,” enthuses Bakary.
In addition to relying on this family experience, the young gem of English boxing exchanges with the best to progress.
Sparring partner of MMA fighter Salahdine Parnasse and British boxer Chris Eubanks Junior, Samaké has already entered the ring in Floyd Mayweather's training room.
🚨 BIG BOXING EVENT COMING UP!!
💎🇫🇷 Still undefeated, the French diamond Bakary Samaké (14-0) will pass his first real career test against the experienced Ahmed El Mousaoui (34-5) 🇫🇷!
👉 On the same card, two other tricolors: Milan Prat (21-1) and Cédric Vitu (48-4) pic.twitter.com/pEZ1MjBFZT
— RMC Sport Combat (@RMCSportCombat) February 14, 2024
Optimal preparation for his first meeting in 2024. A clash with the 12th in the world, El Mousaoui, who does not scare him, and against whom he considers himself the favorite: “Technically, physically, I have the weapons to win the fight.
Experience means nothing.
He’s been boxing for years and he still makes mistakes that I don’t make.”
He even allows himself to throw little barbs at his rival.
“No one was able to knock me out.
He’s not the one who will succeed.”
In his upward trajectory, some see him as the boxer of a generation, a phenomenon like France has few.
He is “perhaps the boxer we have been waiting for for a long time in France”, estimated Jean-Marc Mormeck a few months ago.
Endowed according to most purists with exceptional technique, a dynamic style and a remarkable quality of movement, the young boxer will have a lot to do for his fifteenth fight among the pros.
The Franco-Moroccan Ahmed El Mousaoui, French champion in 2013, is back in the ring after a year of absence.
Despite two defeats in these last two fights, the man nicknamed the Lion of the Rif approaches his comeback with confidence: “Everyone has their own vision of being favorite.
Boxing purists know that he is the underdog.
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El Mousaoui considers himself boxing in a different category: “My last fights were very high level fights, from the Top 15 in the world”.
Peaks of intensity not yet reached by Samaké.
“No one was able to knock me out.
He’s not the one who will succeed,” adds the Franco-Moroccan boxer.
The two fighters looked at each other during the weigh-in and both consider themselves capable of taking on this challenge.
For one, it will be about continuing their rise to the top, for the other it is the way to relaunch their career.